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ASUS ROG Ally Z1 Extreme Gaming Handheld 512GB $1169.10 + Delivery ($0 C&C) @ JB Hi-Fi
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Kazusa on 28/09/2023 - 20:04 jbhifi.com.au (1201 clicks)
Last edited 28/09/2023 - 20:14 by 1 other user
Last edited 28/09/2023 - 20:14 by 1 other user
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Or wait for the Lenovo Legion Go?
Lol
Deck for sure if you can get it for $650
The Legion Go is $1400 but does look interesting
two incomparable products, really
Depends what you're after.
Ally has better performance and higher frame and refresh rate.
Steam Deck is optimized for power/performance on linux and runs most recent AAA barely.Think about what type of games you want to play and look up YT vids of their performance on both devices.
FWIW I have dual booted my Deck and the overhead to run Windows is a lot more than SteamOS and I likely lose a few FPS being in Windows.Deck 100% of the way. The Ally's chip is better than the Deck's, but not enough to utilise 1080p high refresh rate gaming. Deck has a much better software experience (read:console-like) and much better hardware support.
Grab a 2tb ssd to boot and you're laughing
I wouldn't get this. There are some bad qc issues from what I've seen.
I'm waiting to see what the legion go is like. Steam deck has great UI but it's hardware is like 5 years old already
The Deck is overall a much better experience due to SteamOS and it's consistent updates from Valve. I can set and forget with a global fps+refresh of 40, unless playing the most demanding of games (Which I prefer to contine using my PC for anyway).
The Ally is powerful but I've mainly heard of users continually tinkering settings. Which may be a subjective problem.
I still think the steam deck is the better product.
But, if you do need the power, the ally is probably worth it.
I have the Ally. And have had a different experience to the above comments. Asus are constantly releasing patches and updates to make it run smoother (bare in mine the deck didn't run perfect on launch either). I've not bothered to figure out and tinker with it to push more frames. So for me it's been a plug an play experience after updating. It runs really well. I get 50-70 fps on starfield at 1080, and with a VRR screen I don't even notice when it drops. With the flexibility of windows, you can install whatever you want and not limited to Steam.
Keep in mind, for those waiting for the Legion, it's reported to not have VRR.
They took 6 patches to fix the overheating issue and broke 4 different things in the process until they finally settled on a half measure of a fix (just have louder fans/increased fan speeds)
Asus are not known for their software and historically have always demonstrated poor software support.
Just releasing updates doesn't mean anything when they have a 50% chance of breaking things with every update.
Ally owner here, wait for legion go late october
Will be totally worth it.
Mind sharing why exactly?
Just wanted to prevent new user not to make impulse buy now but wait till legion go release late oct to decide.
Ahh just wait first, gotchya
@Voucherd: Legion go is almost 250g heavier than the rog ally, it’s more for someone who wants to play docked.
Rog ally is more portable and has a better screen.
@ATangk: Legion Go has a 2560x1600 144Hz display compared to th Ally's 1920x1080 120Hz
This means that it scales with a 1280x800 image which is what newer games will realistically be running at
Legion reported to not have VRR. Could be a deal breaker for some. It would be for me. It should be a must have on underpowered units like these. Because maintaining a steady fps will be difficult unless you're running everything in 720… And if you don't it'll feel like the game is stuttering or you might see screen tearing…
No VRR? Damn. I was drooling over the Legion Go but now it makes me wanna puke!
Almost the price of 2 PS5?!
It's close to a portable series s, of course it'll be expensive.
But the series s is portable. I carry it with me on holidays and cruise ships.
But most people already have pc games and free online play.
It is hard to believe people are willing to pay that much for that.
Nice got negged. Wonder from who -_-
me trolly
Returned my ally for a refund after 3 months. SD card reader failed. Not an uncommon issue unfortunately. Waiting for the Legion Go now.
Yeah same, had my ally's SD stop working, went to JB showed them and they just gave me a new unit.
I still haven't opened mine, thinking if I should just refund it to full price and wait for something else.
I don't think we should support anything coming from an oppressive regime. Should boycott lenovo products
Can i return mine even though i used it? been using it for about 2 months but the ally just didn't hit my expectations. Restart all the time/blue screen etc.
If it's over a month they will probably send to Asus to inspect before they offer a refund etc
They didn't for me. I had a failed micro SD and they didn't even really check the device . Refunded me on the spot .
Returned my rog ally after 3 weeks as the speakers stopped working. Saw/read many others users had issues on reddit/Facebook group… will wait for 2nd generation or legion go.
I haven't had any issues with my launch day ROG Ally but I will admit I don't play it as much as I thought I would… even as a reasonably adept Windows user, you forget just how many little things you need to muck around with before you can get into a game… it's nothing new, but it just feels more apparent when you are just wanting to play a quick game after work or when kids go to sleep, and realise it'll take a lot longer before you get inot the game.
Battery life is also a bit of an issue for some people but if you mostly play at home where you can easily plug in a USB C charger (or decent battery bank) then not an issue either.
It's a beautiful piece of hardware though, and I always feel amazed at the power they fit into such a device, but just keep your expectations in check.
(ps controller itself is good when it works, but a lot of the time for some reason, the ASUS software causes it to behave inconsistently… shrug)
Word of caution, if you are getting this, make sure you get the extended warranty as well. The SD card reader in this thing is useless and that's an understatement. I'm already on my second device and I have yet to try an SD card but chances are that it will fail dur to poor design choice. Just get a Steam Deck for $700ish at times $650
Mine just corrupted the memory card this morning … am debating if it's the card reader/writer, or the card at fault… but Reddit posts would probably indicate the former (or the thermal design).
If I hadn't already invested in the matching accessories (earbuds, case) and the 2TB SSD I'd probably just refund it at this point since I don't use it much…
When was your model made? Units made in July seem to have a copper "shield" on top of the SD controller. My exchage unit is made in July, hope that would mitigate the issue.
May :(
Buy a 64GB Steam and put in either a 1TB or 2TB SSD and 512GB SD card and you are still ahead. However, I would get the Lenovo Go over the Ally due to having a touch pad and heard it may support eGPU.
A non proprietary eGPU you mean?
If you get one, I would increase the fan curve and follow a few of these guides to get more performance. Very happy with mine and the performance you can get out of it in turbo with a good fan curve is surprising. Compared to the Steam Deck it’s a hard decision because the launchers on the ally are much easier to use whereas the Steam Deck need more tinkering to get non steam launchers working.
That said, the guides and community support (auto installer apps/plugins) and customisability on the Steam Deck are really impressive. Cases, covers, skins and mods on Steam Deck have much more support too
Actually, installing none steam games is very easy. Very daunting at first. The Steam Deck community is awesome.
Yeah I just want to set expectations, once you know what to do you’ll be fine. For people who don’t care to learn the process, it could be daunting
Not quite ATL but just by a couple dollars.
I posted ATL in low quantity eBay deals https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/361464?page=44#comment-142…
If Sony sold a $1.2K PSP 2 with these kinds of issues, the internet would be melting downAnd if Valve had these kinds of issues, they'll just do way too many mental gymnastics just to say that it's still OK they have a monopoly on PC gaming.
There is no comparison between Valve and ASUSValve went the custom AMD SOC with tailored hardware like Sony and MS did for their consolesThe custom Linux software stack they built and are still building including optimised AMD GPU drivers, screen rendering control and power management is top tierASUS on the other hand are just the first of many OEM's with access to the Phoenix APU now tweaked and rebadged as "Ryzen Z1"Since ASUS had a group of AMD collab engineers with nothing to do because the only Advantage Edition laptops they released this year were the e-waste RX 7600S models, management told them to build a handheldAfter AMD gave them first dibs on the APU's, ASUS cobbled together some C-tier hardware from their pool of OEM contacts and invested FA in software development to produce a "premium" handheld priced at $1.2KThen they act surprised when the lack of software investment - relying on stock Win 11 for the OS and AMD Adrenaline for the APU - bites them on the assAnd now that ASUS have bought out Intel's NUC division, there is even more overpriced and underdeveloped ROG hardware coming soon
Im sorry chat, you were a joy to talk to in other threads and deal posts but you shouldnt be dibbing your toes into where you dont know well.
Calling 7600s TUF A16 e-waste is far from the truth - the new TUF is a decidedly good budget gaming laptop: Its decently received by top laptop reviewers/outlets of jarrods tech (even making it to the top 5 gaming laptops hes reviewed yet this year), notebookcheck, ultrabookreview and gizmosliptech.
This isnt 2021, TUF is no legion by any stretch, thats still true, but its definitely a punch above other budget machines like MSI GF/GL offerings, nitro 5s, hp victus and gigabyte rebranded Clevos. Sure, price in australia leaves something to be desired, but that goes for a lot of other brands as well, not just asus.
And your points about the ROG Ally - thats extremely harsh critism, considering Steamdeck also had its own array of issues in the first year of launching, which were not fixed only until later batches. ROG Ally isnt even half a year old - given them some time to iron things out maybe? Its Asus' first dib into the handheld market - there is a learning process for everyone.
@Brrrrt: I was hoping all the big AAA-Gaming companies would buy up lots of Valve SteamDeck devices for development. Basically to treat it like they would do so to a XB1 or PS4, a la console.
Unfortunately that's not what's happening. The indie developers seem to embrace it, but not the big corporations. It's very difficult to scale down a 2019 Game that runs 2160p/60fps/High Settings down to a 720p/30fps/Low Settings. And even harder in 2023.
With the adoption of Unreal Engine (v5.3) it's getting very easy to develop games with extreme fidelity. But the big corporations throw most of their money at marketing, hosting servers, and the optimisation for consoles. Current high-end desktop PCs are finding it very difficult to run these games…. they just aren't optimised. So then trying to emulate/translate those games into the Valve SteamDeck it becomes impossible to run.
The ASUS ROG Ally bridges that gap. It is more optimised due to running WindowsOS more natively, has more powerful processor. But it still falls short off the mark. And due to lower sales, there's even less interest to the corporations to port their games directly to it.
Had the VSD launched like alongside the PS4 Pro it could've gone that trajectory, and the RoG Ally launched alongside the XB1X likewise. So they're about 3-5 years late on the console race, and they will get decimated by Nintendo with the NSwitch V2.)
Woah this suppose to be the cheaper one?
No, this is still the Z1 Extreme, the more powerful variant that launched all those months back. The cheaper Z1 variant has been released, albeit only recently, and I'm not sure when they'll arrive here in Aus
Ah true
Have had mine for 2 months now. Absolutely loving it. The SD card issue many are reporting doesn't affect me at all as I don't use it. Upgraded my SSD to 2TB so no need for the SD. Have done some of the minor tweaks and most games I throw at it are handled pretty good!
This has gotten me back into gaming in a whole new way. For someone who travels alot and with a young toddler, this enables me to game whenever I get the chance to which with a PC or laptop would normally be too hard
Try your sd card slot. You might find it won't work anymore as the issue isn't fixed, it can't be fixed.
I stated in my comment I have no need for the SD card so I don't care if it doesn't work. I've got multiple docks with SD card readers if it doesn't work but why would I suffer through 50MB write speeds when I can have 400MB with my SSD
I own the steam deck and for along time stopped myself from buying the rog ally. I ended up dual booting win 10 on the steam deck to experience windows handheld.
In short, I've now restored my deck to only steam os.
Windows does have its benefits in that it's much easier to run game pass and other launchers which worked great (even better than steam os). But it still felt a hassle to boot windows and need to switch over the controllers to either suit windows or game mode, plus other small items that impacted the overall experience
My only gripe for steam deck is its screen resolution.
None of these items exist with the ally, so why not buy? Price - given I already have the steam deck. I dont want to sell the deck nor do i want to spend nearly $2000 in total for hand held gaming.
As I only game within my household (even for hand held), I ended up getting an abxylute device (logitech g cloud competitor) which has been great and fills in that void I was feeling for steam deck. It's got 1080p and while at home, provides what i believe the ally would have given me, if not better in some ways but worse in others.
Abxylute is a stream device so it requires my main gaming pc to be on, but literally everything i play at my gaming pc can be played handheld without issue provided they can be played with controller.
Steam link also allows me to remote turn off my gaming machine, which saves me having to get out of bed once finished gaming
Feel like it's better to hold off until there's an equivalent to quick resume or whatever its called on Windows 11. Until then, despite lower performance the Steam Deck is just more convenient.
Yeah, not at this price.
$1200 for a handheld PC for gaming looks way cheaper than many gmaeing PC…. but didn't a switch cost only $400….
It's all relative.
Switch punches above it's weight due to optimisation and focus.
ROG Ally doesn't always meet expectations due to lack of optimisation. It's still powerful and epic to see such performance in a handheld though, but it has plenty of compromises too.
Why are people still buying this unit? The windows gaming experience is not good on a handheld.
- The micro SD card is placed right next to the exhaust port. Units have been having the microsd controller literally melt and burn to death.
- In many cases it gets so hot you can even burn out your microsd cards.
It's not a matter of IF, BUT WHEN. There is no solution or fix to this other than a complete hardware level redesign.
Asus took 6 updates to try and fix this, 4 of them did nothing. The end fix?? Increase fan speeds. A bandaid fix which won't actually stop your microSD cards from dying.
The matter of fact is, the hardware topology and design is absolutely garbage. Their own engineers know this as well, and it was rushed to market in order to compete with the deck.
Asus can't be trusted for software updates, they have historically over the last decade proven they both dont care enough and aren't competent enough.
Armour Crate beyond being a poorly made dump of a piece of software you're forced to have is literally Spyware that has always on internet connection that is pinging servers internationally every hour and uploads/downloads suspicious amounts of data if you track it under the guise of "this is an update client that checks for updates" that is somehow uploading several hundreds of megabytes of data a month.
I've had good experience with armory crate. Optimises the controls and you can set per game settings.
Someone mentioned the SD controller has a copper heatsink on newer builds.
this or steam deck 64gigs at ~650$?